Dylan Cozens and his linemates have generated lots of buzz the last few games in Buffalo. And the National Hockey League gave Cozens new “linemates” on Monday, when it announced the Sabres’ center was the NHL’s Second Star of the Week between first star Connor McDavid of Edmonton and third star Jason Robertson of Dallas, the league’s top two goal scorers. .
“It’s pretty cool to be up there with those two guys,” Cozens said after practice Tuesday at KeyBank Center. “They’re obviously great players and some of the top guys in the league. Definitely cool.”
Sabers coaches were raving about how Dylan Cozens, Jack Quinn and JJ Peterka use speed, skill and chemistry to make plays you wouldn’t expect out of a line featuring three forwards under the age of 22.
“He deserves it,” said coach Don Granato. “He’s done a great job last few games and a great job for a long time. All that hard work has started to pay off. So I was very excited to hear that he was awarded that and even more excited to know that he’s earned it. and deserved it.”
For the season, Cozens is tied for fourth on the Sabers in scoring with 24 points (nine goals, 15 assists). Drafted seventh overall in 2019, Cozens is second among his draft class entering Tuesday and behind only No. 1 overall Jack Hughes of New Jersey (13-16-29).
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Cozens has nine points during a career-high four-game point streak. Sunday’s three-assist night against San Jose made Cozens just the fourth player in Sabers history aged 21 or younger to have back-to-back games with three or more points. The others were Pierre Turgeon in 1990, Dave Andreychuk in 1984 and Gilbert Perreault in 1971.
While Cozens’ three-pointer night Thursday in KeyBank Center wasn’t enough to help the Sabers overcome the defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche’s power play in a 6-4 loss, he showed again that he’s emerged as a consistent difference-maker in Buffalo. .
All of this offense is because of the Sabres’ new Kid Line, with Cozens centering fellow 21-year-old Jack Quinn and JJ Peterka, who is 20. Cozens is in his third NHL season while Quinn and Peterka were standouts last year in Rochester. before breaking through with Buffalo this year.
“I always knew they were going to come in here and produce like that,” Cozens said. “Those two guys are great players and a lot of my success is because of them. I’ve had a lot of fun playing with them so far and I think we’ve all had a lot of fun together, so you just want to keep that going.”
The Sabers are 4-2-1 in their last seven games dating to Nov. 22. In that two-week stretch entering Tuesday, Buffalo winger Jeff Skinner is tied with McDavid for the NHL scoring lead with 13 points (seven goals, six assists). Cozens (5-7) and Tage Thompson (4-8) are tied for second with 12 points, the same as Robertson (9-3) and Minnesota’s Kirill Kaprizov (6-6). Buffalo’s Rasmus Dahlin is the top defenseman with nine points (1-8).
Thompson’s line gets the bulk of opponents’ attention, but the focus is going to continue to grow as future enemies circle the Cozens line as a point of emphasis as well. Cozens, of course, dealt with plenty of attention while playing in the Western Hockey League and with Team Canada at the World Juniors.
“It’s something I’ve always expected of myself so I don’t think it’s going to be too much different,” Cozens said. “So to see it slowly start to come out, that’s good.”
“It’s familiar territory for him,” Granato said. “He was a phenom coming up, a star player on teams he played with in the past and you’re always a target. There’s lots of players that were as talented as him that didn’t survive that to get to this level. They didn’t like that, that bothered them. … The players that make it to the NHL compete so well and they embrace that challenge and adversity. Dylan thrives on that.”
Wednesday’s 7:30 game at Columbus will mark the second consecutive week the Sabers will appear on TNT. The network crew of Brendan Burke, Darren Pang and Jackie Redmond that will call the game also worked Buffalo’s crazy, 5-4 shootout win Nov. 30 at Detroit.
The Sabers have one more game on TNT, a Feb. 1 home contest vs. Carolina. They have six remaining games on ESPN+ and Hulu, starting with the Dec. 27 return trip to Columbus.
The Sabers say goaltender Eric Comrie, who suffered a knee injury Nov. 16 at Ottawa, has started his rehab by skating lightly in a limited role. Comrie is listed as week to week and it’s possible he may not be back before the new year.
Winger Vinnie Hinostroza (undisclosed) and defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin (lower body) continue to be out of practice and are considered day to day.
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